In Zamfara State, the group loyal to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, organised a parallel congress across the 14 local government councils of the state.

In a statement, spokesman of the faction, Bello Soja Bakyasuwa Maradona, said the congress recorded a large turnout across the councils, even as he accused Ambassador Dauda Danladi of siding with Governor Abdullaziz Yari to scuttle the will of the people.

“Our group is the only faction that fulfilled all the party conditions, having paid the prescribed fees through the designated banks for all our candidates during the just concluded ward congresses.

“The exercise was peaceful in all the local councils except Tsafe, the home local government of Senator Marafa. There was large number of security agents that came to give the Yari faction cover to carry out their endorsement,” the statement reads.

The group said crisis started when Marafa arrived the venue and thousands of party supporters rushed to greet and cheer him up.

“Police tear gassed the senator and his supporters, arrested an inspector attached to the senator, confiscated his rifle and a pistol belonging to the senator’s orderly.